


Unforgettable, Too

by YouHateInvisiblePie



Series: Inspired by music [1]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 16:28:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7369177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouHateInvisiblePie/pseuds/YouHateInvisiblePie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos is upset, no not upset, concerned about being re-educated for the first time. </p><p> </p><p>"Carlos, everyone has to get re-educated from time to time. Really it's nothing to worry about."</p><p>"Nothing to worry about? Steve Carlsberg had his head wrapped in bandages that one time, and was seen eating a styrofoam ice cream cone."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unforgettable, Too

The stars had been vague for that evening's horoscopes, but one thing was very clear indeed: Carlos was in trouble.

How much trouble however, was where it got vague. Carlos could be in mortal danger, or may have just obtained a pen again, despite the writing utensil being illegal.

He was a scientist, and scientists needed to write things down, right? Cecil was pretty sure that was one of the steps in the scientific method.

Step one: science!  
Step two: write down all of your amazing discoveries.  
Step three: ...

Surely step three had something to do with having great hair, because every scientist Cecil had ever met had great hair, and Carlos was no exception. He was the greatest scientist, and his perfect hair accurately reflected this fact.

Cecil nervously fumbled with the keys as he tried to enter their home. He had called Big Rico earlier to ensure that Carlos' lab was still standing, that way he didn't have to waste time going to check for himself. Finally, the door swung open, but Cecil was pretty sure that it was The Faceless Old Woman's doing and not his own.

"Bunny?" Cecil called out, hesitantly entering. When he got no response, he stepped further into the house and found his boyfriend in the kitchen with his forehead resting on the table.

"Carlos." The name left Cecil's lips as a sigh of relief. "Is everything okay? Are you hurt? The stars said-" He stopped his nervous chatter when Carlos held up a single piece of paper and waved it vaguely in Cecil's direction.

Cecil snatched it up and read feverishly down the page. When he got to the end he laughed. Not a cruel or mocking laugh. He didn't find the words on the paper funny. It was a laugh of relief. He had convinced himself that the trouble his Carlos was in was going to be so much worse.

The laughter roused Carlos from his stupor.

"Do you think this is funny?" He looked up at Cecil. He sounded hurt.

"No, of course not," Cecil explained, "but when the stars said you were in trouble, I was thinking of that small civilization that nearly took you from me, or heavens forbid something worse. Not re-education. Carlos, everyone has to get re-educated from time to time. What makes this time any different than the rest? Really it's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?"

"Of course not. Honestly, what is the worst thing that has ever happened to you after re-education?" As the words left Cecil's lips, his brain had a realization. "You've never been re-educated have you?"

"No, but Steve Carlsberg had his head wrapped in bandages that one time, and was seen eating a styrofoam ice cream cone."

"Oh that," Cecil waved it off, "Steve eats styrofoam all the time. He's practically part goat."

"Cecil," Carlos said in a warning tone that translated as 'can't you say something nice about your brother-in-law just for once?'

"You're right. That was rude. To the goats." Cecil chuckled a little but Carlos said nothing. "So you've really never been re-educated?"

"I haven't. What on earth would I have ever been re-educated for?"

"For seeing something you shouldn't have seen, for knowing something you shouldn't know, for admitting that you were doing something that you know is illegal over public radio for example."

"Oh. That's what this is about?" Carlos asked.

"It seems the most likely reason."

"Will they take my research?"

Although Cecil knew the answer would upset his love greatly, there was no point in lying to him. "Yes."

Carlos sighed, but had expected that to be the case. "As for the information in my head, how do they...what if they..." Carlos trailed off, unable to finish the questions that worried him so. "What if I..."

"Forget something _really_ important?" Cecil guessed.

Carlos nodded. "Like information that could one day save the town from baristas, librarians, or whatever else Night Vale decides to throw at us next."

"Then you will use that brilliant brain of yours and science us out of trouble just like you have every time before," Cecil said confidently.  
  
"But what if I forget other things? Things even more important than that?"

"An example being..."

"You. Us. How much I love you."

Oh.  
An understanding.

"What if I forget that I love you?"

Oh.  
A heart breaking.

"Carlos, my perfectly imperfect Carlos, I have been re-educated more times than I can count. At this point, I have probably been re-educated so that I can't remember the sheer number of times that I've been re-educated," Cecil said, although his words did not seem to comfort Carlos as intended. So he continued speaking, "and not once have I ever forgotten just how much you mean to me. Not even for a breath, a moment, or a microsecond. No force in the multitude of cosmos has that power."

As Cecil's words sunk in and Carlos started to relax, the scientist faintly heard a melody coming from somewhere that he couldn't quite place.

 _That's why darling, it's incredible_  
_that someone so unforgettable_  
 _thinks that I am_  
 _unforgettable too._

"Cecil, did you put music on, or was it The Faceless Old Woman?"

"Carlos, that's just the weather."

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was inspired by the song "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole, which was the weather.


End file.
